Christmas in July

Think back to the most exciting time in your life…

Your heart suddenly stops beating, falls to your stomach, and then jumps back into your rib cage. You can’t understand why all of a sudden you feel so dizzy until you realize you’ve forgotten to breath for a few seconds. You want to laugh and cry and jump and sing, but at the same time you want to be so still and live in that the moment forever.

That, my friends, is how I felt for the ENTIRE thirty-six hours
I spent in Minneapolis last week.

Yoplait

I felt like a kid waking up on Christmas morning! And as I sit here now amidst the crumbled wrapping paper typing up this post, I am pinching myself. If I didn’t have pictures to prove it, I’d say it was all a dream!

Yoplait Driver

There was the driver who carted me around everywhere…

Yoplait Makeup

The makeup artist on standby…

Yoplait Camera Crew

The lights, the cameras, the knee-knocking nervousness ACTION!

Yoplait Hotel View 2

The incredible city views…

Yoplait Hotel

The swanky hotel room…

Yoplait Hotel Tub

The freaking jet tub with a TV mounted above it!

Yoplait Yogurt Fridge

The grand tour, complete with a fully stocked “yogurt fridge”…

Group photo with Yop Pres

The tour guide (none other than Yoplait’s president, herself!)…

Heather_Photo prop room

The oh-my-god-I’ve-die-and-gone-to-heaven prop closet!

Yoplait Greek Tray

The yogurt (of yeah, the WHOLE reason for the trip!)…

First Taste of Yoplait Greek

The exclusive sampling scene…

Yoplait Post taste test photos

The photos of the carnage that followed! 😉

Yoplait Art

The amusing artwork (pound cake mop or yarn noodles anyone?)…

Yoplait Cereal World

The cereal nation that I wanted to smuggle home…

Yoplait Lucky & Me

The surprise LUCKY celebrity sighting!

Betty Crocker Kitchens

The Betty Crocker kitchen…

Yoplait Heather Kitchen

The cooking and creating…

Heather_Kitchens 3

The cheese-eating grin on my face that only HALF represents my excitement at the time!

Yoplait Bloggers

Three bloggers (Me, Brianne and Katie)…

Yoplait Tanya & Seth

Two incredible hosts, Tanya and Seth (plus the ENTIRE company at General Mills!)…

Welcome Heather

One incredibly grateful/overwhelmed/ecstatic Heather! 

I didn’t even miss the pony! 😉

I promise, there’s more to come…I just need a little more time to pinch myself PROCESS! 

Posted in Travel | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

Foodporn Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, beautiful people!

I hope you’re all having a great week! Do me a favor today and send some feel good, alive, and AWAKE vibes my way…I’m off work at 7am and the car that’s taking me to the airport arrives at 11:15am!

Here’s hoping I can get a little shut-eye on the plane so I don’t scare the Greek out of the people at Yoplait! 😉

While I’m off to Minneapolis, I thought I’d leave you guys drooling over my little collection of eats from the last couple of weeks…ya know, because I’m nice like that!

WIAW Foodporn

And what else are Wednesdays for anyway? Thanks Jenn, for being the best madam on this side of blogworld! 😉

So a couple of weeks ago, I started thinking my Salacious Salads were starting to lure me into a bit of a cooking rut…a tasty rut, but a rut nonetheless.

Salads CollageWhile I am still enjoying my serving BOWL-sized dose of raw veg weekly, I have actually ventured into cooking my vegetables too!

I started slow by “firing up” the microwave…

Egg & Kale Sandwich

Whole wheat sourdough (from the farmers’ market) with a mix of egg whites, kale, and chopped green onion…topped with apple walnut conserve (of course, a TJ Maxx score)!

Then I got brave and broke out the skillet…

Chicken & Pineapple Stir Fry

Coconut ginger stir-fry with chicken, zucchini, carrots, pineapple, and green onion

With my newfound courage, I cranked up the broiler…

Veggie Nachos

Crispy Flatout flatbread “chips” with melty Gouda, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, and black olives garnished with Greek yogurt, cilantro, and a drizzle of enchilada sauce.

And then I thought, what the heck, let’s get ROASTIN’…

Roasted Veggie Flatbread

P28 Flatbread topped with roasted squash, bell peppers, red onions, and mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes, aged Gouda and a drizzle of….

KETCHUP!

Bet you thought that was hot sauce didn’t you? Yeah, not for this spice weenie! 😉

Whew, after all that heat, I could really go for a Blueberry Watermelon Mint Smoothie right about now (or some sleep)! 😉

What have YOU been cooking up lately?

What’s the oddest thing you’ve put ketchup on? Just TRY to surprise me!

Posted in What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

Fifty Shades of WeekENDing

Hey guys!

So…remember how I said I am late to EVERYTHING? Well, I’m just gonna use that as my excuse for going MIA yesterday. Or maybe I was just worn out from all my
dark and dirty confessions on Sunday. Or MAYBE it was the distraction of this on-the-edge-of-my-seat movie during a much appreciated slow night at work! 😉

Regardless, I’m here today and ready to share my “what’s up”…my “happenings”…
My holiday weekEND in review!

Week-In-Review-Button

And since Meghan loves me almost as much as she loves lists, cheese, and mad monkey love, I think she’ll forgive my fashionably lazy lateness! 😉

The week before the Fourth was kinda humdrum…while I continued to put away my fair share of salacious salads, I wasn’t really accomplishing much else…unless resorting to my teenage years and using every opportune moment to sleep counts. What am I saying? Sleep = Sanity…that TOTALLY counts!

With my sleep stores replenished, I had plenty of energy to hang out with the man-friend and do fifty shades of things

Mall Shopping

Like mall shopping…

Bars

Bar stash replenishing…

Sephora Makeup

New addiction finding…

Whole Foods

Whole Foods happy dancing…

Sushi

Sushi loving…

Famers Market Haul

Farmers’ marketing…

Redbox

Movie watching…

Looper = freakin AWESOME and Django = Quentin Tarantino…um, need I say more? 😉

TJ Maxx

HomeGoods prowling…

Still no peanut butter ginger chews! 🙁

Suitcases

Trip preparing…

PizzaPizza noshing…

The Man-Friend Shadow

And finally, some park walking!

12 bars, 4 indulgent pretties, 2 snacks, 3 plates of yum, 8 market goodies, 2 movies, 3 jars of stuff I didn’t need, 2 things I really DID need, 3 cheese-filled dishes, and 1 mysterious
shadow couple!

Wait, what did you THINK I meant by “fifty”? 😉

Posted in Shopping, Snacks, Week in Review | Tagged , , | 35 Comments